I'm Dying to Know
by Kira kira kira
Summary: It's their seventh and last year Hogwarts. With the addition of a new witch and the dark lord gaining more power every day, how will the new girl change the fate of a werewolf and a certain young boy?
1. Chapter 1

*Your bottle's almost empty, you know this can't go on*

The little town of Hogsmeade was silent the night of July 26, 1976. All the shops were closed and not even stray dogs were wondering in the streets, due to the late time of 1:29. But it's silent and peaceful atmosphere was interrupted exactly as the minute hand turned to 1:30 on the giant clock tower by a loud cracking noise. Two figures standing in the middle of the once empty street seemed to be the cause of the loud noise that had disturbed the quaint town. The tallest of the figures, who seemed to be holding the arm of the shorter of the figures, let go of their companion and reached into their pocket, searching for something. After searching through another pocket, the figure pulled out a dark object before flicking it and muttering something. Seconds later a thick fog seemed to cloak the entire village. The two figures became invisible to the prying eyes in the nearby houses as the fog grew thicker and thicker. Contempt with them now being seemingly invisible, the taller figure once again took their companions' arm and started walking at a brisk pace towards the Three Broomsticks, the other being towed behind the first. They reached their destination in complete silence, neither one of them saying a single word, though both figures could hear the erratic beating of their hearts. Upon reaching the doorstep of the said shop, the taller figure again pulled out a stick like object and pointed it at the door.

"_Alohomora__"_

A flash of bright light was emitted, the door then clicked and swung open. The figures quickly rushed in the little bar, the taller of the two once again pointing the stick like object at the door.

"_Colloportus__"_

The door slammed shut, the lock clicking. Turning back around the figure grabbed the other's arm and lead them to the back of the bar, to a door that was out of view from the general area of the bar. There was a light coming from under the door, alerting the figure that the person that she had arranged to meet was already there and waiting for them. Before opening the door the figure once again waved the stick.

"_Protego Totalum"_

Satisfied with the charm, the figure opened the door to reveal a sparsely decorated room that was just a bit bigger than a broom closet. There was simply a table with four chairs. There were no windows in the room, it's only source of light was coming from the many candles that were hovering in the room. But what caught the attention of the taller figure the most was the man that was seated in one of the chairs. Pushing the other figure in the room, the figure closed the door before waving the stick yet again.

"_Muffliato"_

Satisfied with making the room silent to all that would try to listen in, the figure turned around and faced the old man that was sitting.

"It seems as though you do not trust the precautions that I have already taken to secure our conversation tonight, Mrs. Devanto." Said the old man as he folded his hands on the table, glancing at the taller of the figures over his spectacles. The figure in question took off her hood on her cloak to reveal a beautiful face with piercing blue eyes and hair white as snow.

"You know as well as I do that it is hard to trust even your closest friends during this war, Dumbledore." Mrs. Devanto said, as her exhaustion and worry showed on her goddess like face.

"I know quite well Selene, but please why don't the both of you come sit down so we may discuss the problem at hand." He said, motioning with his hand for them to sit in the chairs opposite of himself. Selene and her fellow companion complied with his request and sat in the chairs. He smiled warmly at them before talking once more.

"There, much better. Now how about some Butterbeer? I find that it can sometimes make a conversation much more enjoyable."

"But Dumbledore-"

"Non-sense Selene! I insist on having one and I'm sure that it would do both you and Ms. Devanto good. You both look a bit shaken-up." Dumbledore said, cutting Selene off. He then proceeded to pull out his own wand from inside his robes, flicking it, causing 3 mugs of warm Butterbeer to appear out of thin air. Putting his wand back into his robes, Dumbledore reached for the mug closest to him and took a small sip, encouraging the other two to do the same. They both obliged and in turn, each took a small sip before looking back to the old man who seemed oddly calm in the time of danger.

"Well before we begin, I must insist that you take your hood off Ms. Devanto." The other figure nodded her head before raising her hands to lower her hood. The first thing that Dumbledore noticed was that the young girl had definitely inherited a lot of her mother's blood. She had the same snow white hair as her mother and also the same piercing blue eyes. Though being as beautiful as her mother, the girl had three horrid scars that ran from her lower left cheek, all the way down to her neck.

"Thank you Ms. Devanto, now Selene if you would be as so kind as to explain to me why you sent me an owl at one this morning, asking for an urgent request?"

Selene looked down at the table quietly, before looking up and staring straight into Dumbledore's twinkling eyes.

"Yes, I am truly sorry that this is not the most appropriate time, but I feel that I could wait no longer." She paused, but he nodded for her to continue. She took a deep breath before continuing her tale. "Well as you probably know, we have been living in America for the past three years. Me and Mathew thought that if we moved away from the place where he seemed to be gaining power most that we would be out of danger. That we would be able to let the children outside, without worrying about those _death eaters _popping up. And then he started using them. About four years ago we learned that he was hunting down Robert because of his 'condition'. Not to mention they found out about his and Anna's blood line." Selene stopped and let out a sob. "Oh Dumbledore! They ransacked our home! They found us all the way in America. I don't know how they did it. We didn't even tell anyone that we were going there! Thankfully we weren't home at the time but when we got back…the house was completely torn apart! So me and Mathew panicked. Mathew and Robert are in Alaska as we speak. I not only came to you in a plea of help but also in a desperate request for Anna." By now tears were flowing freely down Selene's face.

"And what was your request Mrs. Devanto?" he asked, but already knew the answer.

"Please let Anna stay here and finish her schooling at Hogwarts! I know it is a lot to ask but you are the only one who can protect her from Voldemort! Robert having finished his schooling this past year has been great timing, but Anna needs to finish. I will not allow her to not have an education because of that horrid monster!"

"I completely agree Selene. Ms. Anna should be allowed to complete her education. Though I must ask if you plan on staying in London with her."

At the question, Selene looked down ashamed.

"N-no. I need to help Mathew with Robert. You know that his 'condition' is not easy for only one person to deal with. It is both mentally and physically draining for the both of us. And if me and Mathew are not there to help Robert at the same time, then I am afraid that worse things than being caught by Voldemort would happen." She looked up at Albus, silently pleading with her eyes for him to take her precious daughter in.

"Well, I would be more than happy to allow your daughter to attend Hogwarts-" Dumbledore had started but was cut off by Selene.

"Oh! Dumbledore! I will never be able to repay your kindness! Thank you so-"she was going to continue but Dumbledore held up one of his hands to silence her from her joyous ramblings of thank you.

"I am happy to help, but we still have the issue of where Ms. Anna will stay until the new school term starts. As you know, we do not start until the first of September, and neither do we let students stay on school grounds during the summer vacation." Selene dropped her head at this statement, knowing that what Dumbledore had said was very true. Disappointment and fear was clearly radiating off of Selene's demeanor.

"But…"

Her head shot back up quickly as she heard him utter that one word. Dumbledore stared into her teary blue eyes that were filled with hope. He chuckled lightly before continuing.

"Considering the circumstances…I am sure that we will be able to work something out." He paused to let Selene beam with happiness. He turned his knowing gaze to Selene's daughter who had been quiet the entire time. "So, Anna, how old will you be by September first?"

The girl in question looked up surprised that he was talking to her and not her mother. She cleared her throat nervously before answering quietly.

"I just turned 17 in May."

"I see…very good. At Hogwarts you would be considered a seventh year then. Ah, but that does not matter, it all depends on how much schooling you have had. So if you would kindly tell me what your schooling has been like." Dumbledore asked, smiling warmly at the nervous girl. Anna looked at her mom, as if asking if it was okay to tell the old headmaster about her previous schooling. Her mother just simply smiled and nodded for her to continue.

"I spent my first three years learning at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, and then when we moved to America I spent the last three years at Salem Witches Institute, sir."

"Ah, I have had the pleasure of meeting Madame Maxine on a couple of occasions, she is a wonderful headmistress indeed, unfortunately I have not had the chance to meet the headmaster of the Salem Witch Institute, though I have heard many great things about him and the school." Anna smiled at Albus. Her headmaster was indeed a great wizard. She would miss attending his class. The institute was very small but Anna liked that. And she enjoyed having her headmaster teach potions.

"And now back to the question of where Anna is going to stay until the next semester starts."

"Well I might be able to get some money from my inheritance and she could stay here somewhere in Hogsmeade."

"Ah! But that will not be necessary my dear Selene. She can stay with our grounds keeper Hagrid. He is nice man who I'm sure will enjoy the company. Plus I'm sure that your mind would rest easier knowing that she would be on school grounds, thus under the best protection that the wizarding world has to offer."

Selene almost jumped out of her seat at hearing what Albus had just said. She was glad that she would not have to worry about her daughter and could focus wholly on helping Mathew hide Robert from Voldemort. She felt guilty of course for leaving her little girl, but she knew it was best for Anna if she did. No matter how much it hurt.

"Well if there are no further questions, I will show you to where you will be staying until term starts." He said standing up. He pulled out his wand and flicked the empty mugs away.

"Umm…Professor?" Anna questioned as Dumbledore and her mother were moving towards the door.

"Yes, Anna" Anna stood there for a few seconds debating her question before she finally looked up into his eyes.

"How did you know that I prefer being called Anna, instead of Annaleasia?"

Albus chuckled. "An old man knows many things."

And with that they all headed out of Hogsmeade and towards the school grounds.

Staying with Hagrid for the remainder of the summer vacation was not as bad as Anna thought it would be. It was quite the opposite actually. Hagrid is what she would call a gentle giant. Literally. Hagrid himself was half-giant. But being half-giant did not mean that he displayed the common giant characteristics. In fact, Hagrid was the kindest person that Anna had met in a long time. Although his 'hut' was rather small, she was more than happy to take residence on his overstuffed couch, although too small for Hagrid to sleep on, was just perfect for her.

Her first couple of weeks with Hagrid did take some getting used to. One of the things that she had to get used to was Fang. Hagrid's new boarhound puppy. Although Hagrid had trained him well, he would still get excited easily and jump all over her. Even for a puppy the dog was enormous already, his head reaching just up to her knee cap. But of course he just seemed big to Anna, who was just barley reaching five feet. Though Hagrid seemed to think that the puppy was one of the smallest things he had ever seen and would regularly pick it up as of it weighed nothing, carrying it everywhere he went. Another thing that took some getting used to was Hagrid's love for animals. Though Anna loved animals too, Hagrid loved slightly different animals. Different animals meaning sharp teeth, long claws, poisonous, and otherwise dangerous creatures. But Hagrid had an enormous heart, meaning that no matter what it was, he took care of it.

Regardless of the threat of danger, Anna also enjoyed going through the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid and Fang. Not only did she learn about the fantastic creatures in the forest but the time in the forest with Hagrid also served as a bonding time. The more time the two spent together only seemed to strengthen their bond. Hagrid quickly became Anna's only friend at Hogwarts so far. Then again, classes hadn't started yet. But reflecting on her past, Anna realized that she never really ever had friends. Granted she did move a couple of times, she did go to each school for more than a year, giving her ample time to become friends with someone. She never made friends; of course she had a few people she could talk to occasionally. But never someone who she really trusted.

In the weeks leading up to the start of term Anna became increasingly nervous about going to a new school once again. She was sitting at Hagrid's table, playing with her hands as she discussed her nervousness with him. Fangs head lay on her lap, her gently stroking behind his ears as he slobbered on her pants.

"Yeh got nothin' ter worry about, Anna. Hogwarts has got some nice folk there! An' yeh be making friends sooner than yeh could say Quidditch." Hagrid thundered as he was making them some tea.

"But I've never really had a friend before Hagrid! Even at my old school, no one really liked me." She said, looking down embarrassed.

"Then them other schools are full o' slimy gits." He said, putting a cup of tea in front of Anna and taking the seat opposite of her. They sat in silence for a bit, each quietly sipping their own tea. Hagrid was the first to break the silence, hating to see the beautiful young girl in sorrow.

"Yeh know what I all way' been wantin'?"

Anna looked up from her cup to stare questioningly at her friend.

"What?"

"I'd fancy meself a dragon" he stated, gazing out the window. Almost as he was daydreaming what it would be like to own a dragon.

Anna gasped, staring wide eyed at Hagrid in disbelief.

"WHY on earth would you want one Hagrid? Their terribly dangerous and they can't be tamed!"

"They aren't a dangerous lot! They're jus' misunderstood." Said Hagrid, defending himself.

"Misunderstood? You're barking mad if you want a dragon Hagrid! It would kill you. They're not nice creatures!"

"Well, that's jus' wizards who don't know how ter deal with em' givin' them bad rep."

"Hagrid…I…don't even know what to say…" she finished lamely, figuring that if he really wanted a dragon then there was no way that she would be able to convince him not to.

"I've always wanted one since I was a young chap!" he said brightly.

"Then why don't you just go get one if you've wanted one for so long?" Anna asked.

"Blimey Anna! Yeh think yeh can jus' go out there and get one?" Hagrid was astounded by her statement.

"Well I don't see why not."

"Their bloody hard ter find! Practically extinct they are!"

"Well if I ever find a dragon egg I'll be sure to give it to you"

Hagrid was going to respond but was cut off by a knock at the door. Hagrid looked at the door in confusion before standing up and shuffling around the table and towards the door. Opening the door, Hagrid was surprised to find Dumbledore on his doorstep waiting patiently.

"Ah Professor! Come in come in." said Hagrid warmly, opening the door wider, as to let the headmaster in.

"Thank you Hagrid. I assume that your vacation is going well Ms. Devanto." Dumbledore had turned his attention to Anna.

"Yes. I am enjoying my time with Hagrid, sir." Anna said, smiling warmly up to Dumbledore.

"Ah! Very good. Hagrid I would be most thankful if I could have a cup of tea, I seem to be on the verge of catching a cold." Said Dumbledore, as he took a seat at the table by Anna.

"O' course Professor!" Hagrid shuffled back to the kitchen to get a cup for Albus. Fang, having abandoned Anna at the sight of the headmaster, was now licking Dumbledore's hands, wanting his attention.

"'Ere yeh go Professor!" said Hagrid, putting a cup of tea down in front of him before resuming his previous seat at the table. Dumbledore said nothing but instead lifted the cup to his mouth before taking a long sip.

"Ah. Thank you Hagrid. Now, to the reason why I'm here." He paused to look at Anna over his half-moon spectacles. "I am here to inform Ms. Anna that the new term will be starting precisely in one week. I am also pleased to tell you that your mother sent your trunk and your owl this morning." Anna had brightened up at the news that her beloved owl was finally here. "Also I would like to explain what is happening with your family at the moment." Dumbledore paused, taking a sip of his tea and letting Anna prepare herself for what she was about to hear. "As of two weeks ago your family has been in hiding, under my request and protection. Where they are I cannot tell you. But know that they are safe and well." Anna opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by Dumbledore. "Yes, your brother is safe as well, and his condition is being looked after. You have nothing to worry about. Just know that communication with your family will have to be very sparse. I am sorry but that is the only way to be sure that they will not be found." Anna nodded in understanding. "Good! Now on to happier news. Now our returning students arrive at the school via train and are then are taken by carriage to the school. Now seeing as you are already on school grounds and have yet to be sorted. We would like you to accompany Hagrid to the train station where he will then take you and the first years to the school via boat. You will then stay with the first years for the sorting." She was confused but nodded in understanding, figuring that Hagrid would be able to explain it to her later.

Dumbledore smiled. He could tell that she was confused but he knew that she would feel more comfortable with asking Hagrid. He stood up before finishing the conversation.

"Well, that is all the news that I have to offer. Now I will have your trunk and owl delivered immediately. And with all of that said I would like to wish you a happy rest of vacation." After he finished speaking, he cast a fleeting glance at Anna before turning back to Hagrid. "The grounds are looking nice this year Hagrid…Well thank you for the tea. It was most delicious, but I must be getting back to the castle. Many things to prepare for." And with that Dumbledore left Hagrid and Anna, making his way back to the castle. The two sat in silence for a moment before Anna's curiosity got the best of her.

"Sorting?" she questioned, looking at Hagrid.

"I keep forgettin' that it'll be yeh firs' year 'ere. But 'ere at Hogwarts they separate the kids by houses. Yeh be sorted inter Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. Personally I fancy Gryffindor, I once being one meself." Said Hagrid, obviously glowing with pride at being a Gryffindor.

"But how will they know what house to put me in." Anna was curious as to how they would determine the house she should be in. Though she was quietly hoping that there wasn't a test of any sort.

"Yeh got nothin' ter worry bout. The sorting hat will figure it out for yeh. But yeh got ter have certain qualities for each of em'. Gryffindor's are brave blokes. Hufflepuff is where all them kind ones go. Ravenclaw is for the clever an' Slytherin… well their just a bunch o' nasty prats, yeh way too kind ter end up with the likes of them."

"What's wrong with Slytherin?"

"Their prats who will only like yeh if yeh a 'pure' blood. Prejudiced gits. It seems as though no good witch or wizard has ever came out o' that house."

"Oh"

Hagrid, mouth open from when he was going to respond, was once again cut off by a quiet knock at the door. Closing his mouth, he made his way to the door and opened it. Opening the door, Hagrid looked out and saw Anna's trunk with a cage sitting on top of it, which held a small chestnut owl. Looking out a little further, he saw no one, so he thought it must have been a house elf that brought it out.

"Yeh owl an' trunk are 'ere"

Anna, getting up from the table, looked around the door and saw Hagrid moving the cage off of the trunk and bending down to pick up the trunk. She jumped with glee at finally being reunited with her beloved owl and ran out of the house to pick up his cage.

"Yeh got a mighty fine lookin' owl there"

"Thanks Hagrid, he's a screech owl. His name is Lucca and I don't think he's too happy at me."

Anna was referring to the way that the chestnut owl was glaring at her and snapping at her fingers every time that she tried to pet him. Hagrid looked out from inside, where he had just laid the trunk against the wall. He thought that what he saw was amusing. Anna was sticking her fingers in the cage to pet the owl but each time she got close to him he would try to bite her and back away. Chuckling, he made his way back outside and towards the girl and her owl.

"I think he jus' didn't like the trip he had ter the castle. He jus' wants ter get out o' his cage an' fly." He guessed, looking down at the rather flustered owl who kept puffing out his feathers in an agitated way. Anna gave a sideways glance to Hagrid. She felt rather stupid that she hadn't about that. His solution was so simple too, and logical.

"Hmm, I bet your right. It's probably been a while since he's been able to stretch his wings." She said, opening the door to the bird's cage. Lucca flew out of his cage the second that Anna had undone the latch. Hagrid and Anna watched as the owl shot out of the cage and soared high up into the air, doing multiple spins and turns on its way up. Once he was almost out of sight from the two, he started in on a spectacular dive. Anna was just about to scream and run away as the owl seemed to be dive bombing her at an increasing speed, but he pulled up abruptly before slowing down considerably and landing lightly on her head. Hagrid watched in amusement as Anna blinked owlishly before looking up at her owl who was seated on top of her head and not moving.

"Oy! You bloody creature, get off!" she said, waving her hands at the bird, trying to get him off of her head. Lucca, seeing this as a game, only nipped lightly at her hands as they came close to him. Realizing this, Anna started swatting at the owl, successfully getting the owl to fly off her head. Only to have him chase her, trying to nip at her face, arms, and anywhere else that Lucca could get his beak on. Hagrid boomed with laughter at the sight of Anna running around in circles crying for help as Lucca hooted happily while gently nipping her. After a good fifteen minutes, Anna finally collapsed on the ground, exhausted. Breathing heavily, she looked up and saw Lucca standing in front of her. Upon meeting his eyes, Lucca tilted his head towards her and hooted.

"I think this means that he's forgivin' yeh." Said Hagrid, smiling at the two.

She sighed heavily before answering. "I guess. Though he has a weird way of telling me. I could have done with him simply just letting me pet him again." She said while getting up and letting Lucca fly up onto her shoulder.

Later that evening after Hagrid had made some sort of pasta for dinner, after, the two sat at the table enjoying a cup of late night tea. Although Hagrid's dinner had been…interesting in taste, Anna was enjoying the chocolate frogs that Hagrid had given her quite more. She thought it was interesting to read the back of the collectible cards. So far that night she had gotten Merlin, Circe, Agrippa and Bertie Bott. Hagrid on the other hand was busy staring that the young witch. He was curious as to why he who must not be named was after her and her brother. He was also intrigued about her scar. The scar itself was in the shape of something that must have drugged its way through her skin. It must have been something very powerful to leave a nasty scar such as hers, especially if a healer wasn't able to make it go away. Though the pinkish scar was clearly visible on her pale skin, she did a good job of covering it up with her long waving hair. But Hagrid's curiosity was bubbling too much for him to control and he asked her how she got it.

"What?" Anna looked up surprised at the question Hagrid had just asked.

"I was jus' curious as ter how yeh got that scar." He repeated. Anna lifted her hand to rub her scar as Hagrid mentioned it again.

"I…well…I was playing with a…with one of those fire salamanders when I was young…and he got me with his claw…" She stammered out, not making eye contact with Hagrid, and instead stroking her scar and looking at her Merlin card that was looking at her skeptically. Had she been looking up, she would have seen the skeptic look that Hagrid was also giving her. He knew for a fact that salamanders even fire salamanders didn't leave scars remotely close to hers. But he disregarded that thought as it was obviously hard for the girl to talk about. He decided to just leave that conversation at that.

"Right, well I'm goin' ter bed now"

Anna looked up in time to see the back of Hagrid disappear behind his bedroom door. She sighed, looking down at the table and hoping that he wasn't mad at her for obviously lying to him.


	2. Chapter 2

*Because of you my mind is always racing, the needles brake in your skin*

The week before term started went by quickly for both Anna and Hagrid. They spent most of their time talking about Hogwarts and how Anna's time would be spent there. It particularly scared Anna that she would not be able to see her new friend as much as she was now. But he assured her that were as she might not be able to see him every day; she would be able to see him every weekend. Also throughout the week, Anna had been silently making it up to Hagrid for lying to him. She cleaned his house, she cooked dinner, and she helped him more with his ground keeper duties. Hagrid understood what she was doing and was grateful that she felt a bit guilty for lying, but he also felt guilty for prying.

Anna was also surprised to find that when her trunk arrived, her mother had bought and packed all her school supplies. There were all the books that she need, new robes, and a new potion kit. She had also packed a few of Anna's old personal items. There was no need for her mom to pack her wand, seeing as she always kept it in her back pocket. A habit she picked up from her brother, which he had picked up from their father. Her mother on the other hand did not like them to store their wands there. Said that they would curse their arses off.

So when the dreadful day came, Anna was full of fear and excitement. She and Hagrid had just arrived at the Hogsmeade train station and were waiting for the Hogwarts Express to arrive. Hagrid had informed her that it was due to arrive at exactly seven o'clock. The current time was six fifty six and Anna was growing more anxious by the minute. She looked up that the sky as they waited and tried to make shapes out of the steadily growing darker clouds. She thought that it was beautiful out. The sun was setting and was almost completely gone. Leaving the sky painted with lovely purples, blues, and dark reds.

"Ah! They're 'ere"

Anna looked down from the sky and towards the track where a giant steam engine had just rolled in. She stared in awe at the sheer size of the giant scarlet train. The doors opened and students started piling out of it. As Anna watched she couldn't help but feel a little jealous as all of them seemed to be in groups or at least with one other person. Friends. Something that she both longed for and feared.

"Firs' years over 'ere!" Hagrid bellowed from beside her, waving his hand in their direction. This of course caught their attention. And as the younger students came toward them, she could feel them staring at her after they got over the shock of Hagrid's size. She even saw that some of the older students were staring at her. Some were even stopping to point her out to the other students. Blushing, she stepped behind Hagrid to hide herself from the onlookers.

Hagrid ordered the first years to stand by him a couple more times before turning around and looking questioningly at Anna. She shrugged in response, but still tried to stay out of site. But there were students who were peering around Hagrid to get a better look at her.

"Right. Well follow me an' we'll make our way ter the boats." He said, leading the first years down to the lake. Anna walked beside him the whole way and ignored the whispers from the other students, fearing that some of them were about her. As they reached the boats Hagrid turned around again to give out more instructions.

"Four ter a boat. Keep yourself inside the boat at all times or yeh be eaten by the giant squid." With that said, the eleven year olds all seemed to form groups and got into the boats. Anna glanced at Hagrid nervously, wondering if she would have to leave his side. But he seemed to read her mind before she got the chance to say anything.

"Don't yeh worry, yeh can stick with me." He smiled down to Anna. She nodded gratefully and clambered in a boat after Hagrid. Once everyone was situated in their boats the boats magically started to row themselves towards the huge dark shadow of the castle that was looming in the distance.

The boat ride was made in silence. Every now and then there would be ripples in the water that Anna guessed was from the giant squid. Once she thought she saw a large tentacle skim the water's surface, but it was too dark out to tell if it was or if she imagined it. As they got closer to the school she and the students stared in awe at the humongous school that was shining brightly in the distance. Tearing her gaze away from the castle, Anna looked up at Hagrid and grinned. Hagrid, who was looking at the castle too, looked at her and smiled softly. Her brilliant white hair seemed to glow in the dark and blue eyes shinned brightly with amaze as she looked back towards the castle. Looking around at the other students, he noticed that some of the students had realized the fact that Anna was seemingly glowing and were staring intently at her. Though she didn't notice, she was focused souly on Hogwarts.

After about a half hour, they arrived at the castle grounds and were then lead up to a pair of enormous doors by Hagrid. Waiting patiently for them just outside the doors was a stern looking witch. She looked to be about middle-aged, with her brown hair pulled into a tight bun. Anna, being too preoccupied with staring at the older witch, didn't notice Hagrid leave her side.

"Quiet. My name is Professor McGonagall .You will follow me into the Great Hall, but before you will wait until we are ready to sort you." She stated looking down skeptically at all the new students. Her eyes drifted briefly to the 'exchange' student, who stuck out quite badly. "While at Hogwarts you house will be your family. Good behavior rewards points, where as bad behavior loses points." She drawled out the rest as she glanced down to a couple of boys who were trying to trip a small boy with glasses. "Well, follow me." McGonagall turned around swiftly and lead them into the Great Hall, where she told them to wait quietly before disappearing behind a door.

Upon entering the room, Anna realized that a lot of the students had turned to look at her. Some didn't even have enough sense to look away when her eyes met theirs. They just kept on staring at her. Finally after an uncomfortable silence a boy, with dark hair and dark eyes who had been curious about her since he saw her at the train station, broke it.

"You're not a first year _are_ you?"

All the kids in the hall turned to Anna, waiting eagerly on her reply. They were all curious as to why the beautiful girl was with them as she was obviously older than eleven and shouldn't be with the first years waiting to be sorted.

"Erm no. I'm a seventh year." She responded, blushing madly.

"Then why are you out here with us." He shot back at her quickly, raising one of his eyebrows.

"I'm a…exchange student."

He looked surprised, as did the others that were listening, and was going to respond but was cut off by Professor McGonagall appearing back in the hall.

"We are ready for you." She said pointedly, catching Anna's bewildered eyes for a split second before turning around and leading them through the giant doors and into the Great Hall.

The Great Hall filled with chatter as all the upperclassmen entered it from the carriages. Most were glad to be inside as the temperatures were dropping outside. The students joined up with their friends from their houses and sat at their respective house tables. Four particular friends were laughing quite loudly as they sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table. They were excitingly telling each other the adventures that they had over the summer break. But when the stories became old news, a new topic was brought up.

"Did you guys see that one girl?" the shortest of them asked, as he took off his cloak.

"Way to be specific Wormtail. Though I'm sure that Prongs over here as seen a girl." A tall boy with dark shaggy hair replied as he elbowed the boy next to him, who was staring intently at a red headed girl unaware at the change in topic.

"Wha?" the boy in question responded, confused as to why his name was said.

"Keep your mouth shut, there James. I don't think Lily will find it too attractive to look over and find you staring her down, drooling over everything like a bloody dog." The boy across from James said.

"Thanks, Remus." Said James sarcastically and reached his hand across the table to smack his friend, who dodged with a smirk.

"But as I was saying, did you guys see that girl with Hagrid? She was standing over with the first years." Peter asked again, gaining their attention.

"I didn't see anyone." Sirius and James said simultaneously.

"I think I might have" Remus replied looking at his friends. "Are you talking about the girl with the white hair?"

"Yeah! That's the one! I wonder why she went with the first years, she looked too old to be one." Peter mused.

"White hair?" Sirius questioned, raising one of his eyebrows.

"Yeah it was really white. As white as snow." Said Peter. He looked at him oddly as Sirius began to think deeply. Sirius looked over at James and they seemed to be having a silent conversation.

"What else do you remember about her?" James questioned.

"Umm she was really pretty…I think she had blue eyes too. I can't really remember, she moved behind Hagrid before I got a good chance to look. But you should have seen it! The sun was right behind her and it made like this glowing light behind her…" Peter trailed off, replaying the scene in his head and smiling.

"Glowing?" James questioned before looking at Sirius.

"I only know of one thing…" Sirius trailed off, considering the possibility.

"That's what I was thinking." James nodded, agreeing with Sirius.

"What are you talking about?" Remus asked skeptically. James and Sirius turned and looked at Peter and Remus, smirking.

"Veela"

"What!" Remus sputtered. There's no way that a veela would be going to Hogwarts, they were more native to France, he thought.

"The only people that I know to have that white of hair and 'glow' are Veela's." Said Sirius using his fingers to simulate quotations around the word glow as he said it.

"What's a Veela?"

James, Remus, and Sirius all turned their heads towards Peter, their mouths agape.

"Blimey Wormtail! How thick headed do you have to be to not know what a veela is?" Sirius was stunned. Peter fidgeted under his friend's stares embarrassed by his own ignorance.

"I don't know…" he trailed off, looking down at the table.

"They're the most beautiful things on the planet! Next to Lily that is..." James exclaimed.

"Though she must not have been a pure blood veela or you would have been hypnotized by her." Sirius put in.

"My dad said he's only seen one pure blood before. He said that he was so mesmerized by her that she almost made him jump off a cliff with a simple request." Said James.

"I read about them somewhere. Something called a 'veela charm'? Remus asked James and Sirius unsurely.

"Yeah, they call it the veela charm. They're so good looking that just one look from them will have you on your knees groveling." James answered.

"Maybe she'll be able to take your mind off of Evans, eh mate?" Sirius snickered.

"Not a snowballs chance in hell, mate. Evans is the only girl for me."

"I'm sorry Prongs, but I don't think that she returns the feelings…" Remus stated before turning his head to look down the table to where Lily sat with her group of friends.

"She likes me. Trust me." He said proudly, sticking out his chest.

"If she's 'likes' you so much, then ask her out." Sirius dared, smirking, challenging him to say no.

"Fine." He turned his body toward Lily, and shouted her name; she turned and looked at him. Upon finding out that it was James who called her name, she frowned. "Hey how about you and me go to Hogsmeade together and get a Butterbeer" he said as a statement rather than a question. She scowled at his arrogant face before responding.

"Shove it, Potter." She stuck up her nose and turned back to her friends who were giggling.

"Ouch…sorry mate." Remus said, though he knew that that was the response that James was going to get.

"She's just in denial at the moment." He said, running his fingers through his hair, messing it up even more.

"Denial my ass mate, she just plain doesn't like you. You should just give up on her. There are plenty of girls out there who want to date you. Like Wilma Todderfoot." They all turned to look at the Ravenclaw table to find Wilma staring intently at James. When she noticed that they were looking at her she took her wand out and made a heart made out of clouds appear with her and James's name etched in it. James shuddered before turning around.

"That was creepy." Peter said as the rest of them turned around.

"How do you think I feel? She practically stalks me." James said, wide eyed.

"I'll admit that that's a little extreme, but at least she'll return the affection" Sirius mused, he too was a little creped out by Wilma.

"I think she has a little too much affection-" they were cut off by the opening of the Great Hall. They looked over and saw Professor McGonagall leading the first year's in. But instead of scrutinizing the new students, everyone in the great hall seemed to be focused on the girl who was easily the tallest in the bunch and had magnificent white hair. She seemed to float rather than walk down the hall. When the first years stopped in front of professor Dumbledore, she stood towards the middle of the group, looking just as nervous as the younger kids.

"Defiantly veela." Sirius muttered, his eyes never leaving her. Remus could do nothing more than nod to him. He was too caught up in her beauty to say much else; she was by far the most beautiful girl that he had ever seen. He was stunned when she turned her head to look around and he caught sight of her eyes. They were the bluest eyes that he had ever seen.

A***

nna turned her attention back to Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall and watched with curiosity as they placed a hat on a stool. Her shock soon turned to awe as the hat seemingly formed a mouth and started to sing.

_Welcome, welcome to Hogwarts_

_Don't touch the frogs for fear of warts_

_Let us shape your minds_

_And see what we can find_

_Which house shall be yours_

_Will it be Slytherin where they value power more_

_Sly and cunning they are_

_Or Ravenclaw who are more intelligent by far_

_Cleverness and determination they show_

_Maybe dear old Hufflepuff where the sensitive go_

_Where you will find a true friend_

_How about Gryffindor where the brave of heart fend_

_With courage and braveness everywhere_

_So put me on, I promise not to swear_

_Don't be afraid of me_

_For I can't even see _

_I'll tell you where you ought to be_

_And won't even charge a fee!_

The magical hat stopped singing and everyone erupted in applause. Anna clapped loudly in awe for the enchanted hat. Her attention then went to Professor McGonagall who now stood in front of the group of first years with the hat in her hand.

"Now when I call your name you are to forth and place that hat on your head. You will then be sorted and you will go and sit with your respective house." She spoke clearly while looking over every first year seemingly. "Good. We will begin. Shannon Aberns." She called out. A small girl walked out from the group and made her way up to the stool and sat down confidently. Professor McGonagall sat the hat on her head and Anna watched in curiosity as the hat sat on her straight black hair for merely seconds before calling out.

"Slytherin!"

The girl hopped off the stool and strode over to the table that was decorated in green and silver. She received applause from her house mates and McGonagall read out the next name. Anna tensed in nervousness, thinking that she would be next but relaxed greatly as the next name that was called was not her's.

"Jonathon Carter."

A mousy haired boy walked up and straightened his glasses before taking a seat on the stool. The hat stayed on his head a considerably amount longer than it had on Shannon's. After three minutes it finally yelled out Ravenclaw. His table applauded for him as he walked over.

"Annaleasia Devanto."

Anna's head shot from the Ravenclaw table up to Professor McGonagall with wide eyes. She swallowed hard before making her way up to Professor McGonagall. As she got up there her palms started to sweat and she noticed that the whole hall had gotten silent and was staring at her. She was beginning to get nervous, when the other students were sorted there was always a little bit a whispering from the upper classmen. But not this time. No, it was deathly silent and everyone one was looking directly at her, a feeling she did not like. She sat on the chair blushing from under the stares of everyone. Professor McGonagall smiled slightly as she placed the hat on top of Anna's head. The hat was far too big for her little head and slid down past her eyes so she could no longer see.

_Ah! A Devanto!_

Anna jumped a little at the voice she heard inside her head.

_You are a very smart girl I see...Yes very smart. And a lot of loyalty and braveness. Quite the past you have to, my dear. Not many people would be able to deal with what you have been through. Hmm… where to put you? You definitely have the power and will to succeed, great traits for a Slytherin. But you are indeed loyal and brave; you'd make a fine Gryffindor. Plus the smarts for a wonderful Ravenclaw. Interesting indeed._

Anna sat quietly under the hat. Trying to make sense of his fast ramblings. She didn't particularly want to be in Slytherin, not after what Hagrid had said about them.

_You don't want to be in Slytherin? You would do well there… but if you don't want to be there better be…_

"Gryffindor!"

The Gryffindor table erupted into the loudest applause and some even stood up while they clapped. Anna, still in shock that the hat had read her mind, made her way down to the scarlet and gold table in daze after Professor McGonagall took the hat off her head. What she didn't notice though that the other house were houses were glaring over at the Gryffindor table because of their new addition.

Anna sat down next to a red headed girl, who later introduced herself as Lily Evans. Lily had waved her over to her spot that was on the far left corner of the table while she had been walking over. Anna gladly accepted the invitation and sat next to her and her friends. She was introduced to Lily's friends who all treated her nicely. Then other students from the Gryffindor table were introducing themselves to her making her blush and shy away from all the attention they were giving her.

The rest of the sorting continued like this. Gryffindor's would introduce their selves to her and she would blush and whisper a hello. In fact, Anna didn't even get to watch the rest of the sorting because of all the students who were trying to talk to her. Except for the four boys who were at the very end of the table that was furthest away from the teachers. There were two of them with black hair, one's was messed up and sticking in every direction and the other's was neat. Then there was a taller boy who had honey brown hair. She couldn't see his face at all because he seemed to be either looking at the table cloth or at a book that he had with him. The last boy was rather short compared to the rest and had mousy hair. He seemed to watch the two with black hair intently, as though he would miss out on something important if he didn't stare at them intently. Lily must have notice my staring because she gave me a slight poke in my arm to get my attention.

"Don't worry about them. They're just a bunch of rotten gits. Except for Remus that is." She whispered in my ear.

"Which one is Remus?" I whispered back into her ear. She smiled at me before responding.

"The one reading. The others are just a bunch of trouble makers that don't care for anybody but themselves." She muttered the last part.

I made an 'o' shape with my mouth and went back to paying attention to Dumbledore who was speaking now that the sorting was done.

"And I would just like to add that it would be wise for you to all be very careful this year. The dark forces are growing stronger each day. You are very well indeed safe here but I still urge all of you to put aside your differences and help each other. Now to end on a happier note, Flubberwaggot, strawberries and wolf's bane." Dumbledore said before taking he's seat at the head of the teachers table. I turned and looked at Lily in question to his odd choice of words.

She shrugged. "Who knows? He always says something strange like that at the beginning of term."

"He's a strange man." I said. She laughed and then smiled brightly as the table filled with all kinds of delicious looking foods.

"He is indeed but let's eat now! I'm starving!" said Lily, grabbing some turkey and putting it on her plate. I followed suit and grabbed a chicken leg from the platter in front of me and started to eat. No offense to Hagrid but it tasted a lot better than anything I had ever had at his house in the last couple of weeks.

Lilly and Anna finished their dinners in relative peace. There were still loads of people- males in general- who were coming over and introducing themselves to Anna. It was tiresome for her and was starting to make her feel uncomfortable, though, lucky for her, Lilly seemed to catch on to the fact that she was not enjoying herself with all of the people and quickly threatened them away.

After the many death and hexing threats from Lilly, the small crowd around Anna dissipated and left her trying her hardest to blend in as much as she could with the rest of the Hogwarts students. She had stopped eating long ago and was now fiddling with her hands in her lap, her head down and out of view from all of the curious students.

Lilly watched as Anna seemingly tried to disappear. Curiosity took over her about her new acquaintance. Anna was beautiful, that was for sure, and no doubt had veela blood in her. That much Lilly could tell already. But what intrigued Lilly the most was the way that Anna acted around other people. In all of her readings, Lilly remembered that a rather predominate characteristic of veela's was their confidence with men, or in Anna's case just people in general. Anna was just too shy, for how beautiful she was, Lilly assumed that she would have been very sociable, but it seemed that she instead hatted any form of attention at all. It was also curious that Anna kept half of her face hidden behind her long snow like hair.

Realizing that she had been staring for quite some time, Lilly snapped out of it and took into account that Anna had eaten very little for dinner and was still very quiet.

"Are you okay, Annaleasia?" asked Lilly.

Her head snapped up and she threw a dazzling smile towards Lilly. "I'm fine. Thank for your concern but I suppose I'm just a little home sick."

"Oh, I see. Well I'm sure you could always send them an owl tonight? Or possibly it could wait until tomorrow morning. It's about time for the feast to end." Lilly watched the girl carefully. Her face had dropped slightly when Lilly had mentioned owling her family, but Lilly just brushed it off.

"I suppose you're right. I'll just wait for tomorrow to send a letter, I'm too tired tonight." Anna sighed and looked down at her now empty plate. It had startled her at first when she saw her food just vanish off her plate but then she realized that it was foolish to expect anything less from Hogwarts.

"Good idea. I'll probably owl my parents tomorrow as well. Anyway, Dumbledore should be dismissing us soon to head to the dormitories." Explained Lilly. Anna's eyes seemed to gleam with a bit of excitement at Lilly's words.

"I've always wanted to see what Gryffindor tower looked like. Hagrid tried to explain it to me but I didn't understand half of what he said."

"You'll love it! It's very nice and apparently the nicest common room out of all the houses according to James and Sirius, though I don't know how they seem to know that fact." Lilly trailed off, obviously still trying to figure out how James and Sirius knew what the other houses looked like.

"You don't seem to like those boys very much." Anna observed.

"I don't, they're a bunch of bloody prats. Never done any good for anyone but themselves."

"I hope you're not talking about me Evans." A voice from behind the girls startled them as they whipped their heads around to find the boy from before with the messy hair.

"What do you want Potter?" Seethed Lilly towards the boy as Anna watched on, confused as how the two treated each other.

"Blimey, Evans! Have you forgotten already? I'm head boy this year. We have to escort the first years to the dormitories."

"I haven't forgotten, Potter. I'm still rather surprised that you would receive head boy over Remus… he's more deserving of it if you ask me." Lilly muttered to Anna, who in turn let out a small giggle.

"And who is this Evans! Got you a new friend have you? I'm James Potter, Lilly's boyfriend." James boasted and held out his hand for Anna to shake, clearly ignoring Lilly's last statement.

"Sod off Potter! I have no relation with you at all and I never will."

"Calm down, clam down. Melin, Evans. You're already scaring all of the first years. It's a surprise that you even got the new student to sit with you with a temper like that!" James winked at Anna as he said this.

"Potter, I'll show you my temper…" Lilly began to reach for the inside of her robes.

"Now, now Lilly, my dear. We both know that I think you're radiantly beautiful when you're angry."

"Seriously Potter! Can't you lay off it for just a day?" Anna could tell that Lilly was getting rather annoyed by James, but she could also see by the look in her eyes that Lilly was actually enjoying James's company.

"Can do no such thing for the woman of my dreams. Now how bout we get these little midgets to the dormitory before they wet themselves." James suggested, grabbing Lilly's hand and dragging her off the bench and towards the front of the Great Hall.

"Oi! Potter! Let go of me!"

"Nope."

"Potter!"

"Say please"

"Piss off."

"No can do. Let's go! Come on you midgets! Follow us or find your own bloody way to the tower!" James called out to all of the hopeless looking first years that were following nervously behind the arguing 'couple'.

"Anna! Come on! The fowl git won't let me go and I don't want to leave you behind." Lilly yelled out to Anna as she tried to get out of James's grip.

"Coming." She whispered to herself and got up from her spot on the bench to follow Lilly with a pair amber eyes following her every step.


	3. Chapter 3

*The scar is sinking in, and now your trip begins*

I walked behind all of the first years, still receiving looks and stares from everyone that I passed. Some of the first years were even craning their necks around to look at me as we walked through the corridors. It was starting to get very irritating.

"Now watch out for the stairs. They like to move." Lily announced from the head of the group, with James at her side. I glanced up from the floor to see what she was talking about and was utterly awestruck by what I saw. We were in a very large foyer type of place that had about fifty or so staircases. But that wasn't the shocking part of it, no, they were all moving! Changing were they lead to and where they began. I had never seen anything like it. I stood there staring until Lily's voice cut through once again.

"Best keep up; we don't want anybody to get separated."

I quickly focused on following the arguing pair once more and heard James whispering to his beloved.

"Let them get lost. If the little prats can't keep up then that's their fault."

I watched as Lily comprehended what he had said and then started to hit his shoulder while not so quietly telling him that was a heartless toe rag and it was his job now to care. The exchange was quite funny to witness. James would purposely say something to set Lily off, which normally included him getting hit, and he would take everything she threw at him with a smile on his face. I couldn't help but chuckle a little into the sleeve that I had brought up to my face to cover the fact that I was laughing.

"They're rather funny, aren't they?" Asked a voice from my left side. I immediately stopped laughing and put my arm back at my side.

Glancing out of the corner of my eyes, I saw that it was the boy from diner with honey colored hair. "I-I did not mean to make fun of them, I was just-"I stuttered out a response, still not looking at him, but was cut off by his polite voice.

"Nor did I" he paused to give a soft chuckle, "Just confirming that they are rather odd together." I could feel him turn his gaze to me now instead of looking ahead at James and Lily. "Remus Lupin" he awkwardly put his book that he had been carrying in his other hand as to shake my right hand with his. Blushing, I looked downwards so that my hair fell around my face, hiding it, and followed suit.

"Annaleasia Devanto."

Remus's hand grasped mine in a gentle hold, shaking it only once. "That's a very unique name. I've never come across a name like that before" he mused and I let go of his hand rather quickly. "Not that I meant it in a bad way! It's a rather pretty name." He said quite quickly, a faint bit of pink splashed his unusually pale face.

I still refused to look at him and but I had managed to mutter a soft thank you to him. This seemingly pleased him as he offered me one more smile before turning his attention straight forward once again. We then followed the first years up more sets of stairs in a relative quietness.

The pictures that decorated the wall were impressive, I had never seen so many in one place before, and liked all of the attention that they were getting from the first years, especially the ones that came from muggle born parents. The occupants in the portraits would bow and offer the students greetings when we walked past.

"Oh, hello dearies!"

"A fresh new batch of Gryffindor's I see!"

I was so entranced by the paintings that I missed the fact that everyone had skipped over a certain step and I suddenly felt my left leg sinking. Startled, I let out a quiet gasp and tried to wiggle myself free. No such luck. No matter how hard I tried to pull, my leg just wouldn't come out. Nervous that I would be left behind, I raised my head and scanned the stair case for anyone that would help me. Shocked to see Remus right in front of me, I flinched back.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you. I was just about to ask if you wanted some help" I looked up at him really fast before putting my head back down.

"Please" I whispered to him.

Remus smiled, "Okay, lemme see your hands."

Shakily, I nodded and held out both of my hands for him to grab.

"Right, now on the count of three I'm gonna pull and I'll need you to push a little with your right leg." He instructed me.

"O-Okay."

"Don't worry, I've done this loads of times." I gave him a quick glance as he flashed me a reassuring smile. "Ready?"

I nodded my head.

"One."

He paused for a couple of seconds.

"Two."

I squeezed my eyes tight and got ready to push.

"Three!"

Immediately after he uttered the word he yanked me out of the step with so much might that I didn't even have to push at all and I actually stumbled a bit into him. Embarrassed beyond belief that I had about knocked him over I instantly sprang away from him.

"Sorry" I muttered and started to dust of the leg that had been trapped.

Remus laughed before straightening himself out. "It's alright. I believe everyone that has every came to Hogwarts gets stuck in that stair at least once in their time here."

"Thank you for helping me" I said, looking him straight in his eyes for once. They were a pretty brown color in my opinion.

He smiled and looked into my eye, "Your welcome. Now come on, I'll show you the way to Gryffindor tower. I bet Lily's having a right row since you're not with her." He gestured with his hand that I should follow him. I was confused as to what he was talking about but then realized, upon looking around, that we were the only people left on the stairwell.

Slightly amazed that it took us that long to free my leg, I silently followed Remus, always a step or two behind him. Every now and then he would look behind him to make sure that I was still following him and in response I would duck my head and blush. I wished a million times before that I wasn't that shy but I couldn't help but act that way. It angered me that I couldn't look people in the eye and that I my face would always turn a brilliant shade of red. But there was nothing that I could do about it, no matter how hard I tried. How I had gotten into the house that valued courage more than anything blew my mind.

Somewhere in my self-hating musings Remus must have stopped because I ran into his back suddenly.

"Sorry." I whispered even more embarrassed than I had been all night. If I could curl up in a ball and die right at the moment, I would have.

"It's alright. I know this place is kinda hard to take in all in one night." He flashed me a bright smile before facing forward again, allowing me to take notice of the picture we were stopped in front of.

It was a painting of a middle-aged woman in roman like clothing sitting at a table full of fruit.

"This is the fat lady" Remus explained as he glanced at me quickly before returning his gaze to the lady. "You have to tell her the correct password in order to get into the Gryffindor common room."

"Fat lady? I will open to no such name! Have you any shame boy? To call a woman by such name is simply a disgrace! Until you can call me by a proper name I shall do no such thing for you even if the password you give is correct!" The fat lady exclaimed as she crossed her arms over her chest and turned so she was no longer looking at Remus.

Remus sighed before turning to me. "Don't mind her. She's a bit mental and has real temperament issues" he whispered into my ear so as the fat lady wouldn't hear.

I nodded my head in understanding. In turn, Remus nodded his head once before looking at the lady. "Right," he paused, "The password is 'Salamander', and all you have to do is tell her and she'll swing right open."

Nodding once more, I waited for the portrait to swing open, like he said it would. But, no such thing happened.

Remus seemed to get aggravated that nothing happened and cleared his voice rather loudly to try and gain the attention of the over dramatic painting.

"I said 'Salamander'." He repeated with an edge in his usually calm voice.

"Hmm, I wonder what that annoying little sound could be." The fat lady pondered to herself.

"Look I'm sorry if I offended you _ma'am, _but we would very much like to go in the common room." It was almost funny I concluded, that this boy that I had met no more than twenty minutes ago was arguing with a painting.

The fat lady turned to look at us and I watched as she seemingly looked past Remus and saw me standing behind him.

"Ah! I'm sorry dearie! I wasn't aware that there was another student waiting to get in with this arrogant little brat," she gestured to Remus, "Now do you know the password?" she asked me in a kind voice, unlike the one she had used with Remus.

I looked to Remus, unsure of what I should really do and a little confused by her dramatic change in mood. He caught my stare and urged me with his eyes to repeat the password he had tried to give. Taking a deep breath, I took a step forward, my head still down cast to my dismay, and uttered the password.

"I'm sorry dearie, but you'll need to speak up. I didn't quite catch what you said." She said in a false cheery voice, I knew that she was probably tired of dealing with us at this point.

Sighing and closing my eyes I said the word a little bit louder but obviously audible to anyone who was in a four foot radius of us, the loudest I had spoken in the past four hours.

The fat lady grinned and she suddenly creaked opened. "Now that's more like it dear!"

"Mental she is" Remus complained as he grabbed ahold of my hand and pulled me through the portrait hole. Blushing hard that he had grabbed my hand, I struggled not to trip over the step that lead us into the common room.

He dragged me behind him until we reached a den looking place. The colors red and gold were everywhere that they could possibly be. From the couches to the window coverings and down to the carpet, everything was covered in the warm colors, only being enhanced from the roaring fire that many students were already crowded around.

"There you are Moony!" James shouted over at Remus from his spot on a sofa, directly in front of the fire place.

"Blimey mate, we bout thought the Slytherins had hexed you or something" the boy with shaggy hair exclaimed as he too looked over the back of the couch and towards us.

At the sound of all the ruckus, Lily snapped her attention towards us and threw her book down in order to rush towards us. She reached us in blinding speed and shook me by the shoulders, effectively releasing my hand from Remus's, whom I had forgot was still touching me.

"Do you realize how worried I was!" she shook me a little harder, making my hair sway back and forth on my back. I was rather taken aback by her response to the whole mishap and I think Remus picked up on that as gently pulled Lily off me.

"Calm down Lily, she just got stuck on the trick step and we fell a little behind after I helped her out." He said, pushing Lily a good foot away from me.

"The trick step? But I warned everyone about it! Weren't you listening?" she turned her attention back to me.

Bashfully I looked towards the floor and shook my head no.

"Oh save it Evans! Just because your head girl doesn't mean that everyone is going to listen to every word that falls from your mouth." The shaggy haired boy chimed in, not even looking at us as he was fixated with what looked like to be a game of wizards chest.

At this Lily stomped her foot on the ground and glared at the boy, "Well I'm sorry that I care about the wellbeing of a new student! Unlike you arrogant gits over there!"

"I'll always care about your wellbeing my Lily-flower!" James cheerfully put in as he leaned over the couch, clearly bored with the chest game that the black haired boy was obviously winning against the midget.

"Shove it Potter! And you too Black! Come on Anna, I'll show you to the dormitories so you won't be disgraced by the company that's down here.

Giving Remus a small smile of thanks, I quickly followed Lily up a small set of stone stairs. But on the way up I couldn't help but notice that one of the boys had said when they thought that I was out of earshot.

"Nice, mate! That was the veela from the sorting ceremony right?"

"And all these years we thought you were gay cause you never showed any interest in girls!" I could just barely make out James's voice.

"And all this time you were just extremely picky!" Came another voice, this time it was a voice that I hadn't heard before.

I chose then to stop listening to them. It was clear to me that Lily had not heard them, though it never crossed my mind that she would actually be able to hear them. I had enhanced hearing that at this moment I wished I didn't have. It's as they always say, 'ignorance is bliss'. It made my stomach sink when I realized that Remus was only helping me earlier today because he was like every other male I had ever met. They only helped me or talked to me because I was clearly part veela. It hurt and I realized how foolish I was for believing that he was a nice person without even knowing him.

I struggled to keep myself from tearing up from the anger I felt for being betrayed. Betrayed wasn't even a word that I could use, he simply mislead me, just like everyone else I had ever known.

"Hello? Anna? Are you feeling alright?"

I glanced up in confusion and saw Lily looking at me with concerned eyes. Lily seemed like a nicer person, but then again so did Remus at first.

"I'm just tired." I lied through my teeth to her. I wasn't even sure as to why I felt so angry right now. But I did know that I didn't want to talk to anyone at this moment. I wanted to be alone so I could stop being the blushing idiot that everyone had seen today.

"Right, well since we're seventh years our room is on the seventh floor in the tower and that," she pointed to a four poster bed in the corner of the room by a window, "must be your bed as it has your trunk on it and is the only unoccupied bed in here. And that," she pointed to the bed next to it, "is my bed. Feel free to get me if you need anything. I'll just be down in the common room."

Smiling the fakest smile that I had smiled all night I turned to Lily. "Thank you, I think I'm just going to go to bed for the night." She smiled in return before pivoting on her foot, causing her bright red hair swivel around behind her, and left through a door I hadn't even noticed that we had passed through. Looking around the room, I saw that there were four other beds besides my own. They all had their curtains open except for one, to which I assumed its occupant was already sleeping as the room was silent.

Sighing, I made my way over to the bed that was deemed mine and saw that all of my stuff was laid out nicely on it. Even Lucca's cage was on my night stand. The bird in question was nowhere to be seen, but that didn't bother me as I knew that he was probably still out hunting.

I pulled my trunk off of my bed and set it neatly at the end of it before closing my curtains and changing into my pajamas. After I was comfortable, I jumped into the bed and immediately got under the covers. I kept my curtains closed and silently muttered a silencing charm around them to keep in the screams from the night mares that I knew would haunt me tonight. If I fell asleep that is.

A/N: comments would be greatly appreciated! Good and bad!


End file.
